The sad sight was more than Tyrannosaurus and Scootaloo could bear, so they bolted out of the forest and ran over to the emotionally destroyed Indominus. T-Rex gently nuzzled his brother's battered body while Scootaloo increased her size and stroked his face to try and ease the terrible pain in his heart.
"I'm so sorry Indominus," said Scootaloo. "You didn't deserve this kind pain, the Wonderbolts drove you to this."
"But I hurt her Scootaloo, I hurt the one pony I was trying so hard to protect. Now I can't be with her or go home anymore, because I'm just too destructive and dangerous to be around." Scootaloo was hurt by the defeated tone in Indominus's voice, he couldn't just stay there and die.
"Brother, you can't wallow in this forever. What if the Wonderbolts come back to try and finish the job? What will you do then?"
"I'll let them finish me, at least that way Soarin and Shitfire will no longer hurt Rainbow Dash."
Hearing Indominus's weak response in allowing the Wonderbolts to kill him was too much for the others to take. They all ran over to the beaten hybrid dinosaur and tried to talk some sense into him.
"Darling you can't mean that! We adore having you in our lives," said Rarity.
"You're the most kind creature we've ever met," Fluttershy added.
"Ya can't just turn yer back on yer family. Scootaloo needs ya around ta be her father," Applejack said desperately.
"You are a guardian of Equestria, Indominus. You can't let yourself be killed like this and turn your back on your home," said Twilight.
"Monsters don't get a family or a home where everyone loves them. Death is the only way I'll find peace."
Scootaloo shrank back down and was close to having a breakdown after how she heard Indominus talk. She had already lost the dinosaurs once, and she would be broken if Indominus was killed. Luckily Luna draped a wing over her and pulled her close.
"Don't worry Scootaloo, I will be paying Indominus a visit in his dreams so I can keep him from giving up hope."
"D-Do you really think you can bring his spirit back, Princess Luna?"
"It won't be easy, his heart has been devastated and broken. From what it sounds like, he attacked Rainbow Dash instead of the Wonderbolts. I'll get to the root of this and try to make him realize that it wasn't his fault. All that anger he was experiencing clouded his mind and made him do it, he just needs to realize that. But fear not Scootaloo, your father's heart will mend."
"Thank you Luna," said Scootaloo as she hugged the Princess's leg.
Princess Celestia walked in front of Indominus and gently laid a wing on the dinosaur's snout, while looking into his eyes. She then spoke to him in a completely sincere and honest voice.
"Indominus, I'm asking you to not give up on life just yet. You have to remain strong, because if you give up, who will be there to care for Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo?" Indominus only lowered his eyes as the memory of his terrible action plagued his mind. "If you give up then the Wonderbolts will be free to terrorize your family, and Soarin will no doubt have his revenge against you. Are you really ok with giving up and letting your enemies walk all over you!?"
"After what I did to Rainbow Dash, what else can I do? All I do is cause pain and misery to others!"
"Right here are nine examples of your kind heart and genuine soul. They've all seen your gentle nature and how much you and your family care for Scootaloo. Would a monster have gained this kind of admiration?"
Indominus looked at the others who were all nuzzling his face while Celestia spoke.
"It's true Indominus," said Spike. "I may have thought you and your family were strange when me and Twilight first met you guys, but then we got to know you more. You've shown us that you are anything but a monster."
Indominus looked around to see each pony nodding and agreeing with Spike.
"You're the only one who's asked us to help with marrying Rainbow Dash," said Pinkie. "A monster wouldn't have gained that kind of love and admiration. We love having you around Indominus, and Rainbow would be even more devastated if you were gone."
With the kind words of his friends, Indominus thought back to all the memories he had experienced over his time in Equestria. While it was true that some ponies may not have approved of him, the Mane Six, CMC, even the Princesses and all of Ponyville loved him. He had helped save their world, had beaten the school bullies, and gained the respect and love of both in the process. He had given a filly the family she never had before, and won the heart of her surrogate sister as well.
"Alright Celestia, I won't die just yet, but I do need to spend more time reflecting on what I've done. Brother, can I ask you to take care of our family until I come back home?" Tyrannosaurus nuzzled his brother's face and they locked eyes.
"You have my word Indominus, I'll make sure our girls will be alright. I'm especially glad that you've decided to remain tough through all this. Just make sure to give Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash plenty of love when you come back, alright?"
"I promise Tyrannosaurus," said Indominus as he returned his brother's nuzzle.
The group breathed a sigh of relief, but Luna was still going to make good on her promise to visit the hybrid in his dreams. She also was concerned about what kind of pain Rainbow was going through.
Meanwhile over at the compound, Rainbow was dealing with more than just emotional pain. The formula had worn off on the Wonderbolts and they had returned to their normal sizes. They had all gathered in the locker room after their deadly confrontation with thr hybrid. In spite of everything that Indominus had done to them, they had only one thought on their minds: killing him for how he had killed three of their members. Unfortunately, Rainbow was under fire because of how she had defended Indominus at the start.
"I don't even know where to begin with you Crash. You actually defended that monster instead of helping us. He killed Blaze, Wave Chill and Fire Streak because you helped him! The Wonderbolts have been attacked for the first time in history and now three of our members are dead because of you!"
Rainbow had no response, she couldn't even look Spitfire in the eyes. She was still emotionally broken after hearing Indominus give up on himself and their happiness. His painful words had stung her heart, and almost broke her will and spirit. All she could do was stare at Indominus's ring and try to keep her emotions from getting out of control.
"Whether you respond or not, you're going to help us in killing that monster!" Rainbow's mind snapped out of her depression when she heard those words.
"That's right boss," said Soarin. "We'll be getting more of the formula soon, and the next opportunity we get, we are going to kill that monster and hang his head in the locker room. It's not just for us anymore, it's about avenging our fallen comrades and ending that monster's reign of terror! With the power he has, nothing in our world could possible stand against that form. Every pony in Equestria will be in danger." Rainbow was shocked at seeing that the other Wonderbolts were actually cheering Soarin on, and that's when it dawned on her that he had set Indominus up to take a fall.
Soarin had intentionally caused all that pain back at the performance area, knowing that Indominus would react violently and kill some of the Wonderbolts. It had all been a ploy to make Indominus look like a monster so all the Wonderbolts would want him killed. Now the rest of them wanted the hybrid dinosaur dead so Soarin could be free to torment Rainbow Dash with nopony to stop him.
"We must destroy him before he regains his strength, and anypony that tries to help him again, will be stopped for good."
"No Soarin, you can't kill him."
"We can Crash, and we will," said Spitfire. "We've been devastated by that beast because of your actions. Your choice affected us all."
"It wasn't his fault, he was only defending me because Soarin attacked me during the routine. In fact, Spitfire, all of you caused Indominus to go on the offensive!"
"We did no such thing Crash," said Fleetfoot. "He went berserk and lashed ou-"
"STOP BLAMING HIM FOR YOUR OWN STUPID CHOICES!!" The increase in Rainbow's anger actually caused part of her power to emit from her body. The other Wonderbolts scattered backwards against the walls after seeing the intimidating power. Rainbow directed her gaze at Soarin, who had anger written all over his face. "He set Indominus up, tried to kill him, and all of you agreed to this. I thought my heroes would treat my family, especially my husband, better than this."
"Then you're a fool for choosing a monster as your husband! He will die with the rest of his pitiful kind, Crash!" Misty Fly's statement caused Rainbow to glare at her, and caused her teeth to grow longer. The more anger Rainbow was feeling, the more she was beginning to transform.
With a fight on the verge of erupting, Spitfire slammed her hooves on the ground to get everypony's attention.
"ENOUGH!! We have a real enemy to hunt down and kill. That beast poses a greater danger to all of Equestria." She then began to advance towards Rainbow, while the other Wonderbolts watched with smug expressions. They knew that Spitfire was going to break Rainbow down and make her fight against Indominus. "Whether you love that monster or not, you will fight us, Crash.
Rainbow stood her ground as she met Spitfire's gaze. Her heart may have been broken, but her willpower wasn't about to falter.
"You are going to help us kill him, and then you'll swear your loyalty to us and never have anything to do with him or his kind ever again." Once those words escaped Spitfire's mouth, Rainbow began thinking about all the experiences she had shared with Indominus and the Wonderbolts.
The Wonderbolts had ridiculed her for not accepting their methods. They had harassed her, chosen reckless flyers that could've hurt her friends. Spitfire had even lied to her face multiple times, during training for the Equestria games and about the nickname that Indominus had tried so hard to remove. Soarin and the others had even threatened to ban her from their team forever, for a false accusation they were so easy to believe. In comparison, Indominus had only acted in every situation to keep Rainbow and Scootaloo safe. His every thought and action had been directed towards only one thing: protecting his girl and their family. Compared to the Wonderbolts, Indominus had been a true Guardian and a true hero.
Rainbow gave into her power, fully transforming and began forcing Spitfire back. The glowing red eyes and slit pupils from the rainbow pegasus were so similar to Indominus that Spitfire felt fear creeping into her heart again.
"I. Am. Not. Going to kill, THE ONE I LOVE!! I am the wife of Indominus Rex! I am the wife of a Guardian! Everything he has done has always been for me, he never once thought of killing anything that wasn't a threat to our family! He has proven himself to be more of a hero than you lying BASTARDS!!"
"You have the gall to call us that!? This is what you get for-" Soarin was cut off from his ranting as Rainbow punched him with enough force to send the Wonderbolt slamming into the lockers.
The force of the impact forced the lockers open and it even caused a couple jackets to fall out. Rainbow's glowing gaze drifted down to each of the jackets and her dagger eyes scanned over them. To her shock and growing rage, she found that there weren't any symbols detailing embarrassing nicknames on them. It turned out that Indominus had been right before the Immortal Phoenix had consumed him with rage: Spitfire had lied to Rainbow in regards to the nickname.
"So, it seems my husband was right about you scoundrels," Rainbow said in a deadly low voice as she advanced towards Spitfire again. "You lied to me during the Equestria Games, you lied about my nickname being good for me, and you've lied about everypony having their own!
"You're making a big deal over nothing Crash, you're really getting this ticked over something so meaningless."
"Meaningless huh?" Rainbow's anger continued to rise and it made Spitfire even more nervous. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW OF MEANINGLESS!?" Rainbow's power grew to where the energy was starting to slice the lockers around her.
The Wonderbolts couldn't even approach Rainbow because of her rising power and fury. In her rage she slammed Spitfire against the wall and growled in her face.
"Spend all of your life tormented and ridiculed by others, let them mock and harass you for a mistake that is just so f***ing funny in their eyes! Then, TELL ME WHAT HAS MORE MEANING THAN BEING A GREAT FLYER AND INSPIRATION FOR OTHERS!? I have lived with that wretched nickname my whole life and was never able to escape it even once. After the Sonic Rainboom, I was finally able to bury that name, until you f***ing rats brought it back into my life. I was able to drown it out because I have my family to help me ignore it, especially Indominus! I have endured you ponies calling me that name because he gave me the strength to pull through, now he is broken and alone, BECAUSE OF YOU!!"
For the first time in her life, Spitfire had no response to everything she had heard. She had no idea that Rainbow had been dealing with that name her entire life, nor did she know what kind of negative impact it had on her.
"Rainbo-"
"SHUT THE F*** UP SHITFIRE!!!! I'M DONE WITH YOUR INSULTS, SELF ABSORBED ATTITUDE, AND YOUR SUPREME ARROGANCE!! I'm leaving the Wonderbolts, and this time, you won't be getting me back!" Rainbow angrily tore off the uniform with her teeth and threw it at Spitfire's hooves. "I wasn't born to follow you, or anypony else!" As a last coup de grace, Rainbow dealt a powerful punch to Spitfire's face, sending the Wonderbolt into the tile floor.
She turned to leave and the others were cowering at the sight of her angry form and the energy spewing from her body. Before she left, Rainbow had one last thing to tell her former heroes.
"I should've let Indominus kill all of you had I known this was going to happen. Or better yet, I should've let you, Soarin and Flatfoot die back at the Young Flyer's Competition. Goodbye, Shitfire!" With one last look at her former idols, Rainbow bolted out of the compound with tears flowing down her face over the decision she had made.
The Wonderbolts looked to their leader after everything they had heard and witnessed. She struggled to get back up and looked over at Soarin, who had gotten up from his own attack.
"Soarin."
"Yes boss?"
"Tell those pegasi in Cloudsdale to whip up enough formula to power in army of Wonderbolts. Because one way or another, we are going to kill that monster."
"With great pleasure Spitfire, I'll even have a special surprise waiting for him. But first, we'll need time to regain our strength before we kill him again. Also, with those wounds, he won't be going after us anytime soon."
"Fair enough, let's get some rest after all that's happened." With their spirits rattled by Indominus's rampage and Rainbow's anger, the Wonderbolts decided to get rest up before going after Indominus again.
Later that night, Rainbow was still suffering after everything that had happened. Scootaloo and T-Rex gave her plenty of comfort and tried to tell her that things would work out in the end. Unfortunately, all the support couldn't replace the gaping hole in Rainbow's heart that only Indominus could patch up. Back on the battle scared field, Indominus was still in the same position he had been in after his horrible battle. He couldn't find it in his heart to forgive himself for what he had done to Rainbow Dash. Despite his friends telling him what a kind creature he was, Indominus could not shake away the destruction and death he had willingly caused. He refused to move an inch, even to eat because he was so broken up about hurting the pony he loved so much.
"I brought all this pain upon her, I betrayed my family. Rainbow put her trust in me, and I let her down. I can never love my Dashie again, because I'm nothing but a monster."
Indominus sang a sad and sorrowful tune into the night, unaware that a certain alicorn was watching from the moon. Princess Luna took in the dinosaur's sad song, and felt her own heart sting from the sorrow in Indominus's voice.
I was the one who had it all
I was the master of my fate
I never knew that rage and hate could hurt so much
I learned the truth too late
I'll never shake away the pain
I close my eyes but she's still there
I let her steal into my cold and scaly heart
It's more than I can bear
Now I know she'll never leave me
Even as she flies away
She will still torment me
Calm me, hurt me
Move me, comfort me
Wasting with my cursed power
And the pain I must endure
I'll fool myself, she'll fly right back
And stay with me for evermore
I rage against the trials of love
I curse the fading of the light
Though she's already flown so far beyond my reach
She's never out of sight
Now I know she'll never leave me
Even as she fades from view
She will still inspire me
Be the heart of everything I do
Wasting with my cursed power
And the pain I must endure
I'll fool myself, she'll walk right in
And as the painful nights begin
I'll think of all that might have been
Waiting here for evermore
Once the song was over and Indominus laid down to rest for the night, Luna drifted down to the heartbroken dinosaur. Upon seeing that Indominus was asleep, Luna laid her hoof gently on his snout.
"I'm so sorry Indominus. A kind soul like you shouldn't have to deal with such pain." The Princess conjured up a giant blanket that was colored like the night sky and laid it over Indominus's battered body. The hybrid relaxed once he felt the comfort on his body and fell into a more peaceful slumber. Luna gave Indominus a gentle kiss on the nose before saying "I'll see you in your dreams tonight, great Guardian."
As Luna flew back towards the moon, she had a determination in her heart to make the Wonderbolts suffer for the pain they had brought upon the Family of a Lifetime.
"Wonderbolt or not, nopony hurts Scootaloo's father and Rainbow's husband and gets away with it. You brought this on yourselves, Wonderbolts, and now I'm going to give you all a nightmare that will torment you until the day Indominus takes his vengeance."